Wout van Aert lashes out at rivals after massive Giro crash: "Sometimes they should just use their heads"

Visma | Lease a Bike rode at the front all day to set up a sprint finish and, because they were in front, avoided the late crash. “We knew it was going to be tricky. We controlled the day for a sprint and did everything we could, but we only had a small group,” said Kooij.

Among the roughly 25 riders left at the front were Bart Lemmen, Simon Yates, and Wout van Aert, who all worked for Kooij. “In the end, we didn’t have enough firepower to bring Asgreen back,” the Dutchman said. He wasn’t sure if the crash had worked in the peloton’s favor. “I wouldn’t call it perfect. It was very chaotic on these slippery roads.”

Yates, one of the few GC contenders to remain at the front, moved up to second overall, 1:20 behind race leader Isaac Del Toro. But Van Aert made it clear that Visma’s pace-setting had nothing to do with GC tactics. “That’s not what happened,” the Belgian corrected a journalist’s question.

“That’s your opinion. It was clear we were here to go for the stage win with Olav. We fought for that all day and controlled the race. In the finale, we were up front to bring the break back, but they played it smart by accelerating right at that moment,” Van Aert explained. “We needed all of our guys to chase them down. Yes, we kept pushing, but that was for the stage win. Every Grand Tour has days like this, and it’s unfortunate that it led to gaps in the general classification.”

“The circuit had a lot of corners, but I also have to say the riders are to blame for what happened. The GC teams were so nervous. They created their own stress and caused the crashes. That needs to be said as well. It was risky, but the circuit in Lecce (stage four, ed.) was even more dangerous. We could have kept things safer ourselves,” the Belgian Visma rider repeated.

Van Aert made it clear he didn’t view the result as any sort of win. Speaking to Sporza's Renaat Schotte, he said: “I would have preferred to win with Olav in a full bunch sprint. We took the initiative, but had to burn through half our team just to fight for position. We were riding for the win, so the last thing we’d want to do is take unnecessary risks... Sometimes people just need to use their heads.”